Russia Tells NATO It Is Ready to Join Peace Partnership

By WILLIAM E. SCHMIDT,

Published: May 25, 1994

BRUSSELS, May 24—
Defense Minister Pavel Grachev of Russia brought NATO ministers assurances today from President Boris N. Yeltsin that Moscow would join the alliance's Partnership for Peace, the program intended to forge closer ties between NATO and its former Warsaw Pact enemies.

But in brief remarks to reporters after a private 90-minute session with NATO officials, he did not say when Russia would sign the plan, and he cautioned that Moscow would put forward its own "more comprehensive" plan on Wednesday on ways it intended to cooperate with NATO.

The partnership as it is now described "is a framework that does not specify forms, methods, principles or tasks of the partnership," said General Grachev. Tass, the Russian news agency, later reported that General Grachev hoped the separate Russian plan could be signed by Moscow and NATO at the same time Moscow joined the partnership.

Still, NATO officials seemed pleased tonight with General Grachev's appearance in Brussels, which they characterized as amiable, good-humored and apparently intended to reassure alliance ministers that Russia's military leadership wants military cooperation -- and not political confrontation -- with NATO.

The details of the Russian plan that General Grachev cited today are not known, but Moscow is reportedly looking for a commitment from NATO for serious political consultation and cooperation on shared aims, including possible joint participation in peace-keeping missions.

During most of his appearance before ministers early this evening, according to NATO officials who were in the meeting, General Grachev offered a sometimes discursive, and mostly theoretical, narrative on Russia's evolving military doctrine, which he described as wholly defensive.

At one point he assured NATO officials that the problems of Russian minorities in what Moscow has often referred to as the "near abroad," or those former Soviet republics that now border Russia, was a matter for political and not military solutions, and said Moscow would welcome foreign peace-keeping troops to serve in trouble spots like Azerbaijan.

He also emphasized Moscow's willingness to send troops to join international peace-keeping missions, serving under either NATO or foreign command.

The partnership agreement, which has already been signed by 18 eastern European nations and former Soviet republics, is intended as a way to increase military cooperation between NATO and its former Warsaw Pact enemies, without the mutual defense commitment that would go with full membership in the alliance. Claimed 'Special Status'

The plan outlines a framework for setting up joint training exercises and exchanges of information about military doctrine, weaponry and standards. It was proposed by President Clinton and other leaders last January, on a equal basis to all formerly Communist countries, including Russia, after Moscow made it clear it would regard full membership in the alliance by eastern European countries as a threat to its own security.

For the last several weeks, Russia has refused to commit itself to signing the partnership, arguing that its size and position as a nuclear superpower entitled it to "special status" and treatment.

The argument, which has as much to do with wounded Russian pride as anything else, has won sympathy among several Western countries, including Britain and Germany, which are increasingly worried by mounting domestic political pressure on Mr. Yeltsin to pursue a more anti-Western line.

Earlier today, several NATO officials, including the American Defense Secretary, William Perry, said they would not agree to meet Russian objections by modifying or amending the terms of the original partnership agreement. Same Rules for All

"NATO has taken the position, with which I concur, that there will be no special protocol for Russia as a member of the Partnership for Peace," Dr. Perry said. "Each member that joins will have to follow the same rules.

"NATO has been very clear that no nation, no nation will be granted veto status or authority over the partnerships," he said. "And we will assure all of the Partnership for Peace nations that no other nation will have a veto authority."

But both Dr. Perry and Sergio Balanzino, the deputy secretary general of NATO, left the door open for some sort of side agreement to the partnership, which would address Moscow's concerns about cooperation with the West. Last week, in a response to those concerns, NATO said the alliance's relationship with Russia could be broader than the partnership the allies offered to other countries in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

Mr. Balanzino said today that the alliance had made "substantial progress" in the last five months toward putting the partnership into effect. It is planning its first joint military maneuvers involving both NATO and partnership forces later this year in the Netherlands, he said, and was considering maneuvers in Poland. Offices Being Built

In addition, work is underway at NATO headquarters here, where it is building offices for Russian, central Asian and eastern European diplomats and military officials to develop closer ties and political dialogue with the alliance.

NATO has also opened a planning center at its European military headquarters in Mons, southern Belgium, where countries joining the partnership can station officers.

Several European countries, including Germany and Britain, have publicly declared their eagerness to take steps that would draw Mr. Yeltsin closer to Western councils like NATO, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the so-called Group of Seven industrial democracies, in the hope that they will have a moderating influence on Russia.

These concerns have been sharpened by growing domestic pressures on Mr. Yeltsin to preserve diplomatic face and stature for Russia on the world stage, including strong nationalist opposition in the lower house of the Russian Parliament.

Moscow originally agreed to sign the partnership in April, but later put off the decision. Moscow's resistance grew after NATO bombed Bosnian Serbs besieging Gorazde in April, without informing Moscow.